“Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” — Abraham Lincoln

Character. Integrity. Honesty.

Those traits will be of utmost importance to city voters as they seek a replacement for former Mayor Bob Filner whose disastrous tenure ended after less than nine months amid allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior toward numerous women.

The top contenders to replace Filner — former City Attorney Mike Aguirre, City Council members David Alvarez and Kevin Faulconer and Qualcomm executive Nathan Fletcher — will no doubt be scrutinized heavily for any flaws that hint at a darker side hidden behind the glossy versions they’re presenting to voters. It may not be fair, but in the post-Filner era the candidates won’t be getting the benefit of the doubt.

“There’s nothing like a good mayoral scandal to refocus the mind on character,” said Carl Luna, a political-science professor at Mesa College. “(Character) is an issue right up until to the point you have to choose between that and bread-and-butter stuff. It should not have been a surprise that Bob Filner was going to be somewhat personality-challenged, but people were willing to suspend that because he said the right things for their agenda. That’s always a dangerous road if you’re going to get caught.”

A recent U-T San Diego/10News poll found that 30 percent of likely voters said integrity was the most important quality for the next mayor to have. The next highest quality was leadership at 26 percent.

The mayoral candidates have already begun selling themselves as polar opposites of Filner, a twice-divorced politician who had a lot of personal baggage before becoming mayor. Alvarez, Faulconer and Fletcher have each placed an emphasis on their families with their wives and children joining them in TV commercials and at campaign stops. Meanwhile Aguirre, whose political combativeness has often been compared to Filner, has brought his Basset Hound, Winston, along to press events to soften his image.

They’ve also taken great care to be respectful and complimentary of each other in early debates as they try avoid being tagged as divisive like Filner and his opponent, Republican Carl DeMaio, were described during last year’s mayoral contest. It’s a stark contrast to the verbal haymakers that DeMaio and Filner would land in often testy exchanges.

Mark Cafferty, president and chief executive of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp., said it’s refreshing that the candidates are talking about issues rather than trying to trash each other’s character. He said the way they handle themselves is paramount following Filner’s implosion which resulted in national headlines that hurt San Diego’s image.

“It will be bland and it won’t make for interesting quotes or exciting debates,” Cafferty said. “But I do think they need to maintain their responsible tone and dialogue.”

The harshest criticism in the race so far has been aimed at Fletcher, a lifelong Republican who went independent during his unsuccessful mayoral bid last year and then became a Democrat in May. Alvarez and Faulconer have repeated similar mantras — “You know who I am and what I stand for” — to portray Fletcher as a man who will say or do anything to get elected.